CREATING COMMUNITY ACCOUNTABILITY AND interdependence
Inter-structure is what happens when roots meet underground – when connections between people become just as powerful as the systems they build. It’s the living network that grows from physical infrastructure, weaving care, responsibility, and shared purpose through every neighborhood.
When one household hosts a solar or thermal array on their roof, they’re not just powering their own home – they’re keeping neighbors warm too. When another resident learns to maintain heat pumps or manage a greenhouse, they become a vital part of the community’s ability to thrive. Even those who don’t host ecosystem assets contribute through the work they do, the businesses they start, or simply by showing up when something needs fixing or celebrating. These aren’t just transactions. They’re the threads that bind a community together and make it resilient.
OakTREE strengthens these connections by bringing people together, literally. Through regular community gatherings and town hall-style meetings, residents discuss ongoing projects, troubleshoot challenges, seed new initiatives, and share what’s working. These aren’t just planning sessions; they’re where relationships deepen and community innovation happens, where someone’s good idea finds the neighbor who can help build it, and where every voice has weight in shaping the community’s future.
This is how infrastructure becomes inter-structure: not through imposed systems, but through the organic, accountable relationships that grow when people realize they need each other. And that, together, we are capable of so much more.